Frank Mir fighting “Minotauro” Nogueira at UFC 140

Two greats will meet in the Great White North this December when former UFC title-holders Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira tussle in Toronto as part of the UFC 140 lineup.

The bout, announced officially by the UFC, will serve as a rematch of a 2008 pairing where Mir finished Nogueira for the first time in the Brazilian’s career with a barrage of brutal blows in the second round.

Nogueira had recently asked for Mir as a potential opponent in his next fight after scoring a strike-based stoppage against Brendan Schaub last month at UFC 134. The TKO was the third of his career and came after “Minotauro” claimed to be as healthy as he ever had been based on surgery and his recovery since. Nogueira is 33-6-1 in his career with wins over Mirko Filipovic, Dan Henderson, and Randy Couture.

The 15-5 Mir hasn’t been seen since his strong showing against Roy Nelson at UFC 130 but could find himself on the cusp of another crack at the UFC heavyweight belt with a win against Nogueira. He has won his last two fights including past success against “Cro Cop”, Cheick Kongo, and Brock Lesnar.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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MMATraining Take: Not a bad match-up at all. I like the idea of Nogueira fighting when theoretically healthy since he entered the first fight with Mir coming off a staph infection, plus it’s a nice way to let fans in Canada catch a glimpse of two former heavyweight champs – both with good stand-up and worldclass jiu-jitsu – battle it out.